The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said that the new regulations on Withholding Tax published in the Federal Government Gazette, will officially take effect on January 1, 2025.
This is just as it clarified that the current Withholding Tax regime subsists until December 31, 2024.
The agency made this known in a public notice signed by its Executive Chairman Zacch Adedeji informing taxpayers, tax practitioners, and the general public about the implementation of the Deduction of Tax at Source Withholding Regulations, 2024.
The FIRS confirmed that while the new regulations, published in the Federal Government Gazette, are slated to take effect from January 1, 2025, the existing WHT framework as outlined in the Companies Income Tax (Rates, ETC, of Taxes Deducted at Source (Withholding Tax) Regulations (S.I. 1.10 of 1997) will continue to govern tax deductions until the end of 2024.
The notice read, “The Deduction of Tax at Source Withholding Regulations, 2024, published in the Federal Government Gazette, takes effect from 1st January 2025.
“The current WHT regime as enshrined in the Companies Income Tax (Rates, ETC, of Taxes Deducted at Source (Withholding Tax) Regulations (S.I. 1.10 of 1997) and relevant WHT provisions remain in force up to and until 31st December 2024.”
The FIRS, therefore, advised taxpayers to ensure compliance with the existing laws.
